Microsoft Tries to Quash Innovation in Interoperability Battle Over Xbox

San Francisco - The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) urged a federal court Wednesday to block Microsoft Corporation's attempt to misuse copyright law to thwart a competitor offering memory cards for the Xbox gaming system.
Datel Holdings is a British company that sells memory cards that compete with Microsoft's own...

Criminal Justice Blog Moves to Dismiss Sham Copyright Troll Lawsuit

Las Vegas - The publisher of a criminal justice blog that provides resources for difficult-to-prosecute murder cases has asked a judge to dismiss the sham infringement lawsuit filed against him by copyright troll Righthaven LLC. Recently unsealed documents show that Righthaven is not the true owner of the copyright of...

'HTTPS Now' Campaign Urges Users to Take an Active Role in Protecting Internet Security

San Francisco - The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and Access have launched an international campaign for HTTPS Now, rallying consumers around the world to help us make web surfing safer.
"We've heard a lot about how malicious tools like Firesheep can be used to steal data, including passwords for...

Update: Friday Hearing Canceled in Battle Over Twitter Records' Role in Wikileaks Investigation

UPDATE: Friday's hearing about whether the government can collect the private records of three Twitter users as part of its investigation related to Wikileaks has been canceled.
Alexandria, VA - On Friday, April 22, at 10 a.m., a district court in Virginia will hear oral argument about whether the...

Urban Homesteaders Fight Baseless Legal Claims Over Generic, Descriptive Term

San Francisco - Activists in the urban homesteading movement petitioned today to cancel the registration of bogus trademarks for the terms "urban homesteading" and "urban homestead" -- trademarks that have been used to threaten other urban homesteaders and remove online content and discussion.
The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) has...

EFF to Oregon Supreme Court: Police Need Warrant to Search Arrestees' Cell Phones

San Francisco - The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) urged the Oregon Supreme Court to block warrantless searches of arrestees' cell phones Friday, arguing in an amicus brief that granting law enforcement free rein to search data on the devices violates basic privacy protections guaranteed by the Constitution.
Other state...

Reader Privacy Act Introduced to Upgrade Book Privacy for the Digital Era

Sacramento, CA - California Senator Leland Yee has introduced the Reader Privacy Act of 2011 (SB 602), with backing from the California Affiliates of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF). The law would bring a much-needed upgrade to match Californians' reading habits. Under SB...

ACLU and EFF Appeal Ruling In Case Challenging Government Attempt To Obtain Private Data in WikiLeaks Investigation

Alexandria, VA - The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) today appealed a ruling that the government can collect the private records of three Twitter users as part of its investigation related to WikiLeaks. The ruling further held that the users cannot learn which other...

Legal Battle Over Government Demands for Twitter Records Unsealed by Court

Alexandria, VA - A federal court in Alexandria, Virginia today unsealed motions filed by the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), the American Civil Liberties Union, and others concerning government attempts to obtain Twitter account records about three individuals in connection with its WikiLeaks investigation. The documents were originally filed under seal...

EFF Asks Judges to Quash Subpoenas in Porn-Downloading Lawsuits

San Francisco - The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) has asked an Illinois judge to quash subpoenas issued in predatory lawsuits involving alleged illegal downloading of pornography. In an amicus brief filed Friday, EFF argued that the adult film companies were abusing the law in order to coerce settlement payments despite...

Chilling Effects Supporters Fight Back Against Perfect 10 Challenge

San Francisco - The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and other founders and participants in the Chilling Effects Clearinghouse urged an appeals court in an amicus brief filed Tuesday to reject an adult entertainment publisher's attempts to block Google's contributions to the online copyright resource. Durie Tangri LLP represented EFF and...

Lawmakers Must Respect Freedom of Expression in Wikileaks Debate

San Francisco - The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and a broad coalition of advocacy organizations sent an open letter to U.S. lawmakers today, calling on government officials to respect freedom of expression in the debate over the whistle-blower website Wikileaks.
In the wake of Wikileaks' recent publications of U.S....

EFF Asks Judges to Protect Identities in Porn-Downloading Lawsuits

San Francisco - The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) has asked judges in Texas and West Virginia to block requests to unmask accused file sharers in several predatory copyright troll lawsuits involving the alleged illegal downloading of pornography.
The cases were filed by two different companies and involve different copyrighted...

Legal Attack on Internet Music Storage Threatens 'Safe Harbor' Rules for Online Businesses

New York - In a legal battle over Internet music storage that could impact innovation and free expression on the Internet, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), Public Knowledge, and other public interest groups asked a federal judge in an amicus brief Tuesday to protect the "safe harbor" rules for online...

Government Withholds Records on Need for Expanded Surveillance Law

San Francisco - The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) filed suit against three agencies of the Department of Justice (DOJ) today, demanding records about problems or limitations that hamper electronic surveillance and potentially justify or undermine the Administration's new calls for expanded surveillance powers.
The issue has been in the...

Transparency Activist, Public Domain Scholar, Legal Blogger, and Imprisoned E-Voting Researcher Win Pioneer Awards

San Francisco - The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) is pleased to announce four winners of its 2010 Pioneer Awards: transparency activist Steven Aftergood; public domain scholar James Boyle; legal blogger Pamela Jones and the website Groklaw; and e-voting researcher Hari Krishna Prasad Vemuru, who was recently released on bail after...

Targets of Predatory Lawsuits Fight Copyright Troll in Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C. - The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) has asked a judge in Washington, D.C., to dismiss copyright infringement claims against two defendants wrongfully ensnared in mass movie-downloading lawsuits.
In an amicus brief filed Friday, EFF argues that the copyright troll behind the suits -- a law firm calling...

California Ban on Violent Videogames Violates First Amendment

Washington, D.C. - The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and The Progress & Freedom Foundation (PFF) urged the United States Supreme Court Friday to protect the free speech rights of videogame creators and users, asking the justices to uphold a ruling throwing out unconstitutional restrictions on violent videogames.
At issue...

Privacy and Safety Questions Loom Over Federal Program to Track Preschoolers

San Francisco - The ACLU of Northern California (ACLU-NC) and the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) are calling for answers to critical privacy and safety questions that loom over a controversial federal program to track preschoolers with radio frequency identification (RFID) chips at George Miller III Head Start program in Richmond,...

EFF Experts Address Security, Openness, and Privacy at United Nations' Internet Governance Forum

Vilnius, Lithuania - Experts from the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) will address security, openness, privacy, and other issues at the United Nations' Internet Governance Forum (IGF), set for September 14-17 in Vilnius, Lithuania.
This is the fifth meeting of the IGF, which was established to discuss public policy issues...

EFF Urges Supreme Court to Block NASA's Invasive Background Checks

Washington, D.C. - The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) urged the United States Supreme Court Monday to uphold an appeals court decision that blocks invasive and unnecessary background checks at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), arguing that the over-collection of personal data puts employees' privacy at risk.
The...

EFF Offers New Help for Targets of Predatory Copyright Infringement Lawsuits

San Francisco - The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) today published "U.S. Copyright Group v. the People," a comprehensive collection of resources designed to assist the thousands of individuals accused of online copyright infringement by a Washington, D.C., law firm calling itself the U.S. Copyright Group (USCG).
Earlier this year,...

EFF Wins New Legal Protections for Video Artists, Cell Phone Jailbreakers, and Unlockers

San Francisco - The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) won three critical exemptions to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) anticircumvention provisions today, carving out new legal protections for consumers who modify their cell phones and artists who remix videos — people who, until now, could have been sued for their...

Recording Industry Giant Tries to Undermine 'Safe Harbor' Rules for Online Video Sites

San Francisco - The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and a coalition of nonprofit groups have asked a federal appeals court to protect the "safe harbor" rules for online video service providers that encourage free expression and innovation on the Internet.
In an amicus brief filed Friday in UMG v....

EFF Argues Against Mass Copyright Infringement Lawsuits in Wednesday Hearing

Washington, D.C. - On Wednesday, June 30, at 2:15 p.m., a federal court in Washington, D.C., will hear oral argument from the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) about dividing up the mass copyright infringement lawsuits that improperly and unfairly target thousands of BitTorrent users.
A Washington, D.C., law firm calling...

EFF Asks Judges to Quash Subpoenas in Movie-Downloading Lawsuits

Washington, D.C. - The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) asked judges in Washington, D.C., Wednesday to quash subpoenas issued in predatory lawsuits aimed at movie downloaders, arguing in friend-of-the court briefs that the cases, which together target several thousand BitTorrent users, flout legal safeguards for protecting individuals' rights. Public Citizen and...

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